On April 10, the General Directorate of Arms and Ammunition Control (Digecam) announced that it was the victim of a cyber attack that violated data and confidential information on the weapons records of individuals, companies and the public sector. On April 21, the institution revealed during a summons to the Congress of the Republic that the hack affected about 18,000 users.
The incident began on April 7 at 3:00 a.m., with a saturation of the system, and took around 13 hours. This attack was recorded in the midst of the formation of the Strategic Command Against Transnational Threats (Cecat), in charge of the Ministry of Defense (Mindef), after the announcement made by the Executive last year.
Digital dimmer
According to DataLab, conversation about Digecam registered an increase of at least 256% in the first two days of the crisis, evidencing a significant spike in the volume of mentions. This increase generated an estimated reach of 11.5 million users on different social platforms.
They add that the conversation on digital channels remained active mainly during Friday, April 10 and Saturday, April 11, and then began to stabilize and return to usual levels around Wednesday, April 15. However, conversational consequences related to the topic of the cyberattack persist, which indicates that the topic is still present.
The same social listening study that was conducted between April 9 and 17 showed that the conversation about the cyberattack on Digecam was mainly concentrated on X (formerly Twitter) as the main positioning and amplification channel, followed by Facebook and TikTok as secondary platforms.
At the level of web searches, interest was mainly concentrated in the departments of Jutiapa and Zacapa, where users showed a greater intention to obtain information. The most searched terms were related to “cyber attack”, “stolen data” and “computer security”.
In
The speech of Guatemalan users also depends on the platform used. While
Claim by topic
78% of the mentions are given in a negative context and 21% are neutral.
By categorizing user complaints on the platforms analyzed by DataLab, the report defines that the user is concerned from insecurity due to data leaks, to a perception of “lack of Government transparency” and suspicions of possible “corruption” in arms control in the country. In addition, there are calls to “completely reform the Digecam system, improve cybersecurity and guarantee reliable processes.”
According to the report, the conversation is marked by insecurity due to the leak of sensitive data, especially due to the fear that personal information and weapons records will be used by third parties, putting the safety of citizens at risk.
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